US-RUn-rcg37Guide to the Records of the Music Department
1871-1998(bulk 1922-1998)Finding aid prepared by David Sherman.University of Rhode Island Library, Special Collections and Archives200515 Lippitt RoadKingston, RI 02881-2011Tel: 401-874-4632email: archives@etal.uri.eduWebsite: http://www.uri.edu/library/special_collections/Finding aid encoded by Yuan Li
2007 November 06, updated by Erin C. Mullen on 2011 December 21EnglishFinding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)EnglishSpecial Collections and University Archives 15 Lippitt Road Kingston, RI 02881-2011 Tel: 401-874-4632 email: archives@etal.uri.eduUniversity of Rhode Island. Dept. of MusicRecords of the Music Department1922-199826 box(es), 13.5 linear feetThe records contain office files of the University of Rhode Island Music Department, as well as materials donated to the department.Rec. Gr. 37
Historical note

The University of Rhode Island Department of Music was founded in 1933, at a time when the school was still called Rhode Island State College. Lee C. McCauley came to
RISC as the first Director of the new Department in 1933. Under his leadership, the number of music courses was increased (until that time only four music courses had been offered at the College), and music became an accredited Minor program. He organized the first music festival at the College in 1934, and proposed a four-year Public School Music Education program in 1942.

The Department instituted the Summer Music Camp program in 1945, with McCauley acting as its first Director. The program, and the
All-State Music Camp that eventually replaced it, offered music instruction and recreational activities for high school students from Rhode Island and other states.

The Bachelor of Science in Music Education program was instituted in 1953 under McCauley’s successor as Chairman of the Department, Arnold V. Clair. Clair also organized the Music Series and Chamber Music Workshop. The Department, which had been located in Edwards Hall since its inception, moved to the Fine Arts Center upon its completion in 1966. Under the Chairmanship of Albert Giebler, the Department developed a second undergraduate program, the Bachelor of Arts in Music, in 1969, and a Master of Music program in 1978.

The Department continues to offer undergraduate and graduate degrees, as well as hosting several concert series (the Kingston Chamber Music Festival, University Artist Series, and Great Performances), and recitals by faculty, students, and guest performers.

Any qualified person doing scholarly research is permitted to use material housed in the Special Collections Unit.

Terms governing use and reproduction: Photocopying and scanning of materials is a fee based service available in the repository and is allowed at the discretion of the Archivist when in compliance to the Unit's policy on copyright and publication.

Preferred Citation

Records of the Music Department, Rec. Gr. 37, University of Rhode Island.

Scope and Content Note

The Records of the Music Department contain office files from the University of Rhode Island Music Department, as well as materials donated to the Department. The donated materials include a sheet music collection given by Lucia Caito, wife of the late Maury Caito, a piano teacher based in Cranston, R.I., documents collected by mezzo-soprano singer and URI vocal instructor Mary Langdon, written arrangements and personal papers from the estate of bandleader and music teacher Joseph Conte, donated by Al Conte, and publications from the personal collection of composer Vladimir Ussachevsky.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into five series as follows:
1. General Files2. Summer Music Programs3. Sheet Music Collection4. Joseph Conte Arrangement5. Non-Music Departmental Files

Acquisitions Information

The Music Department office files were transferred to the University Archives in July 2003. The papers of Mary Langdon were given to Special Collections in a second donation in June 2005.

Custodial History

The sheet music, as well as some of the Joseph Conte and Ussachevsky materials, had been kept in the Music Resource Center for the use of students before being donated to the Library.

See also Mss. Gr. 135, Arnold Clair Scrapbook and Mss. Gr. 141, Lee McCauley Collection for more documents relating to the Music Department; Mss. Gr. 140 for records of the Kingstowne Music Club, and Rec. Gr. 116A for Records of the Bicentennial Committee of the University of Rhode Island.

Duplicate material was discarded during processing.

Inventory
Series 1General Files1922-1998

The General Files series consists of records of the University of Rhode Island Music Department dating from 1922-98. The series also contains some documents related to and collected by mezzo-soprano singer and URI Professor of Voice
Mary Langdon, dating from 1889-1998. Subjects covered in the files include, but are not limited to, music education, curriculum proposals and changes, program proposals, workshops and seminars, concert series and music festivals, faculty meetings, songs of Rhode Island State College, scholarships, and the URI Ram Band.

The Summer Music Programs series consists of records relating to the operation of the Summer Music Camp and All-State Music Camp programs. The Summer Music Camp, which was held at Rhode Island State College and the University of Rhode Island every summer from 1945-60, was a three to six week program open to high school students from any state. The Camp included scheduled music instruction classes, band performances, and recreational camp activities. The Camp was directed by Lee McCauley, from 1945-48, then by his successor, Arnold Clair, from 1949 until the program’s cancellation in 1960.

Following the discontinuation of the Summer Music Camp, the Music Department ran the All-State Music Camp for high school students in the Rhode Island All-State Band. The All-State Music Camp ran for two weeks each summer, and included music instruction and recreational activities. Arnold Clair continued as Director of the All-State Camp until 1964.

The series consists of correspondence, promotional material, photographs and negatives, news clippings, notes, student lists, applications, receipts, concert programs, and press releases. The records mainly cover the period from 1945-64, with a few folders from 1973 and 1974.

The Sheet Music Collection series consists of printed sheet music and several music magazines donated to the URI Music Department in 2002 by
Lucia Caito (wife of the late Maury Caito, a piano teacher based in Cranston, R.I.), Al Conte (from the estate of Joseph Conte), and others. The Music Department kept much of the collection in the Music Resource Center for student use, and donated the remaining scores, over nine hundred, to the University Library’s Special Collections Department in 2003. The scores, many of which have decorative cover art, date from the 1870s to the 1970s.

The sheet music is arranged alphabetically, with each folder containing several scores.

Joseph Conte was a band leader, music teacher, and long-time President of the Providence Federation of Musicians. He held degrees from Boston University and the Longy School of Music, and received an honorary Doctorate of Music from Salve Regina University. Conte was the Director of the 320th U.S. Army Band during World War II, and was the Concertmaster for several local symphony orchestras, including the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra, the Fall River Orchestra, and the Eastern Connecticut Symphony. He conducted the Rhode Island Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, the Civic Opera Association, and the Fine Arts Opera Theater, as well as founding and conducting the Young People’s Symphony of Rhode Island. He was also the band director at St. Francis Xavier Academy in Providence, R.I.

The Joseph Conte Arrangements series consists of musical arrangements donated to the URI Music Department in 2003 by Al Conte, from the estate of Joseph Conte. Most of the arrangements were written by Conte for use in performances and in music education, with a few dating from his time studying at the Longy School. Very few of the scores have credited arrangers; however, variations in handwriting between several of the scores suggest that some of the arrangements may have been written by people other than Conte, possibly including some of Conte’s students, Conte’s son (Joseph R. Conte), or Conte’s brother (Al Conte, who performed in bands with Joseph). There are also very few indications of when the arrangements were written. Some notes and accompanying materials show a range of dates from 1946-93. The series also contains some scrapbook material and other documents relating to Conte's career and education.

The Non-Departmental Files series contains documents donated to the URI Music Department. Many of the documents in the series were donated by URI Professor Joseph Parillo from material he received from the estate of Russian-born American composer Vladimir Ussachevsky (1911-90), who pioneered the use of electronic music and helped to found the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center.

Subjects covered in the series include Russian music and composers, music of Rhode Island, and concert programs from the 1870s.